It’s not every day when the founder of the 700 Club takes a stand for science, so mark it on your calendars. On November 27, 2012, the noted televangelist went on record for the side of science. Don’t believe me? See the video yourself:

Quoting Pat:

“Look, I know that people will probably try to lynch me when I say this, but Bishop [James] Ussher wasn’t inspired by the Lord when he said that it all took 6,000 years. It just didn’t. You go back in time, you’ve got radiocarbon dating. You got all these things and you’ve got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the Dakotas.

“They’re out there,” he continued. “So, there was a time when these giant reptiles were on the Earth and it was before the time of the Bible. So, don’t try and cover it up and make like everything was 6,000 years. That’s not the Bible.

“If you fight science, you’re going to lose your children, and I believe in telling it the way it was.”

The commonly quoted “6,000 year” date comes from the work, The Annals of the World, written by Archbishop of Ireland James Ussher, who theorized that the world began in 4004 BC. Pat references the book here.

Now, do not expect this change of heart to change things for Pat. He still does not believe in the U.S. Constitution, particularly the part about separating church and state. He still claims religious exemptions for political activity. He still remains the man who claimed that people who believe in evolution are, in fact, atheists, and that evolution is “… contrary to the First Amendment.” He’s also had debates on his show discussing how to turn people away from science and toward dogma (see video):

Perhaps, for this change of heart, Brother Pat has turned to the wisdom of Peter Hatfield, who had this to say about carbon dating, the particular process which Robertson referred to (see video):